The River Thames - photos and stories

[Bahnhof Strasse]

It's not actually.

Depends on your definition of dirty. It is full of sediment, which is mud, which is dirt. It's no longer full of chemicals, but does regularly get filled with turds by Thames Water attempting to justify their super-sewer.

 

[T & P]

IIRC David Walliams got a very nasty case of the trots when he ingested a bit of water while he was swimming the Thames for charity.

 

[ViolentPanda]

No @Banhof Strasse, it's a small pot. I have a feeling it maybe an Asian offering to one of their gods.

The shape and size reminds me of cosmetics bottles from 16th-17th century (also used for various anointing oils etc). Small enough to be portable.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Depends on your definition of dirty. It is full of sediment, which is mud, which is dirt. It's no longer full of chemicals, but does regularly get filled with turds by Thames Water attempting to justify their super-sewer.

Although to be fair, the turd problem pre-dates any rabbit by TW about their "super-sewer". It's been a regular issue for at least the last 30 years (since inner London's population started growing again, and was an occasional problem during heavy rain long prior to the '80s.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Although to be fair, the turd problem pre-dates any rabbit by TW about their "super-sewer". It's been a regular issue for at least the last 30 years (since inner London's population started growing again, and was an occasional problem during heavy rain long prior to the '80s.

It's been an issue since Bazzelgette, but I suspect TW has been dumping more frequently in recent years to make the populous cry out for their super sewer. No evidence for this of course, but they are a bunch of scumbag fuckers, so I'm content to go with my theory.

 

[Ponyutd]

Celtic Horned Helmet found on the banks of the Thames, dated to c.150 BC

Found near Waterloo bridge in 1868.

 

[Roadkill]

It's a dirty old river, definitely!

It's not perfect, but it's a whole lot better now than thirty or forty years ago, when there was a lot more untreated sewage going into it than now, and a lot more industry pumping chemicals into it. Back then it was pretty much biologically dead, eels were about the only things that could live in it, and if you fell in it was a stomach-pump job. Nowadays there's a salmon run, apparently.

 

[Onket]

I was only trying to squeeze in some song lyrics, sorry.

 

[ViolentPanda]

It's not perfect, but it's a whole lot better now than thirty or forty years ago, when there was a lot more untreated sewage going into it than now, and a lot more industry pumping chemicals into it. Back then it was pretty much biologically dead, eels were about the only things that could live in it, and if you fell in it was a stomach-pump job. Nowadays there's a salmon run, apparently.

Back when I was a kid in the '60s and '70s, the Wandle still had a fair amount of factories pissing into it, and kids were warned not to paddle in it (didn't really stop us, to be fair!) . Most of them were gone by the mid-eighties, though, except the Kenco coffee works.

 

[Ponyutd]

Thames Water were £200,000 odd for a massive spill of chlorine in the Wandle 2007. The spill more or less killed off the local fish population.

 

[Ponyutd]

Thames Water were fined £200,000 odd for a massive spill of chlorine in the Wandle 2007. The spill more or less killed off the local fish population.

 

[Ponyutd]

 

[Ponyutd]

Some goodies from the Thames on Saturday. A couple of nice fossils. A Chinese couple sitting on a bench on a piece of lead. A 17th century trade token. A Victorian gaming piece and odds and sods. Some more bits in soak...all in all a most enjoyable way to spend a few hours.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Some goodies from the Thames on Saturday. A couple of nice fossils. A Chinese couple sitting on a bench on a piece of lead. A 17th century trade token. A Victorian gaming piece and odds and sods. Some more bits in soak...all in all a most enjoyable way to spend a few hours.

Nice, how does someone go about arranging a day or two mudlarking?

 

[ringo]

That S R is a shoulder badge for the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) Regiment.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

That S R is a shoulder badge for the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) Regiment.

or possibly Southern Railway?

 

[ringo]

Hadn't thought of that, but looks the same as this one:

http://www.britishmilitarybadges.co...scottish-rifles-regiment-sr-shoulder-title-2/

 

[Ponyutd]

Nice, how does someone go about arranging a day or two mudlarking?

See Mrs Frans thread in Community...http://www.urban75.net/forums/threa...the-thames-outing.332501/page-2#post-13742421

 

[RoyReed]

Two of the statues on Vauxhall Bridge - 'Architecture' by Frederick Pomeroy (holding a model of St Paul's Cathedral) and 'Fine Art' by Alfred Drury.


Statue on Vauxhall Bridge by RoyReed, on Flickr


Statue on Vauxhall Bridge by RoyReed, on Flickr

 

[Ponyutd]

Sundays offerings.

Moroccan 4 falus bronze coin.

Sidi Mohhamed 1V

 

[Ponyutd]

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Battersea Bridge at Night, by John Atkinson Grimshaw

 

[Artaxerxes]

Just back from a morning on the foreshore at Greenwich, was bloody freezing! Must be my old age... anyway signed up to another morning at Bank when hopefully I'll get some nicer finds

 

[Puddy_Tat]

the new County Hall, 1922/3

and the River

and LCC trams

(posted by rob baker on tweeter)

 

[Roadkill]

Just back from a morning on the foreshore at Greenwich, was bloody freezing! Must be my old age... anyway signed up to another morning at Bank when hopefully I'll get some nicer finds

Another interesting place to have a poke round on the foreshore would be Charlton. A century or so ago there was a shipbreaker's yard there whose main business seems to have been breaking up old wooden warships, and I remember seeing pieces in the local paper about various bits of old ship turning up near the Thames Barrier.

 

[Ponyutd]

Good morning London.

 

[hash tag]

Ever find any guns when rooting about on the forshores?
I remember helping a clean up party, organised by Thames 21 I think it was. With the health and safety talk we were given lectures about finding guns. They reckoned they regularly find guns, possibly about 1 gun per clean up and sure enough someone found an old hand gun!

 

[Ponyutd]

I have actually found two guns(parts of). Both hand guns and both in a poor condition. A friend of mine, after a very stormy night down at Wapping, found six guns all together. One modern with black tape around the handle, a sawn off shotgun and some older models.

I seem to come across hand grenades a lot for some reason. The last one I found was below Vauxhall bridge. I reported it and they shut the bridge down....at rush hour!
The bomb disposal lot turned up and I showed them where I had left a marker.
Two of them walked down to the foreshore, one of them picked it up and carried it to their van where they put it a mini safe.

 

[Maggot]

The Museum of London is doing an exhibition about swimming in the Thames and are looking for people's photos, stories etc.

http://blog.museumoflondon.org.uk/calling-thames-swimmers/

 

[Artaxerxes]

Went again yesterday, mostly picked up bits of pots and found an intact pipe bowl, struggled to find one last time, its only a cheap one so I am in awe of the one someone else in the group found (theres always one... lucky bastards)